Research:

Drag slows objects. Drag is when you are moving and pushing away air molecules and that is what is slowing you down. Drag helped me understand my experiment because if it falls slow it won’t brake as much. If the object has drag it slows down and it also won’t brake as much. Bigger objects have more mass and fall faster. If it has mass/weight that pulls it down the object will fall faster.

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/mmedia/newtlaws/efar.html
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0201/articles/mainarticle.html



Problem: Which surface allows an Oreo not to brake when dropped from three feet?



Hypothesis: My hypothesis is an Oreo will brake on tile and cardboard because they are harder then paper and carpet and paper will not brake because they’re softer then tile and cardboard. That is why I think cardboard and tile will brake and paper and carpet will not brake.



Material: carpet, tile, paper, Oreos, cardboard, gravity and a yardstick



Procedure:
  1. Gather your materials.
  2. Get someone to hold a piece of paper (off the ground).
  3. Use the yardstick to measure three feet off the paper and drop Oreo.
  4. Record if the Oreo broke or not. (Definition: An Oreo is considered broken when a crack has been seen)
  5. Use the yardstick to measure three feet off the tile and drop Oreo.
  6. Record if the Oreo broke or not. (Definition: An Oreo is considered broken when a crack has been seen)
  7. Get someone to hold a piece of cardboard.
  8. Use the yardstick to measure three feet off the cardboard and drop the Oreo.
  9. Record if the Oreo broke or not. (Definition: An Oreo is considered broken when a crack has been seen)
  10. Get someone to hold a piece of carpet
  11. Use the yardstick to measure three feet off the carpet and drop the Oreo.
  12. Record if the Oreo broke or not. (Definition: An Oreo is considered broken when a crack has been seen)
  13. Do steps 2-12 two more times.


Analyzing Data:

My hypothesis was mostly correct because paper and carpet are soft enough for the Oreo not to brake. Tile was hard enough for it to brake but cardboard was soft enough for an Oreo not to brake when I thought it was going to.
My result show that if you drop an Oreo from three feet on tile it will most likely break and if you drop an Oreo on carpet, cardboard, or paper from three feet it will most likely not brake.
I realized that the way the Oreo lands matters because it might only have broke because of the angle it fell.
I learned that if you accidently drop an Oreo from three feet on carpet, paper or cardboard it will most likely still be a whole but if it fell on tile floor from three feet it will most likely be cracked.